Storage type wire drawing machine



y 19, 1964 c. o. BRUESTLE 3,133,629

STORAGE TYPE WIRE DRAWING momma Filed March 18, 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Tia. l.

INVENTOR. 0/1/91 0. 551/55 725 y 9, 1964 c. o. BRUESTLE 3,133,629

STORAGE TYPE WIRE DRAWING MACHINE Filed March 18, 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. 0,4,?! 0. 5,9055 7.45

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May 19, 1964 c. o. BRUESTLE 3,133,629

STORAGE TYPE WIRE DRAWING MACHINE Filed March 18, 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. 0 421. 0. 52058115 c. o. BRUEVSTLE 3,133,629

STORAGE TYPE WIRE DRAWING MACHINE I May' 19, 1964 Filed March 18, 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Tic.'E

INVENTOR. CWBL 0. 820155725 May 19, 1964 Filed March 18, 1960 C. O. BRUESTLE STORAGE TYPE WIRE DRAWING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 L; Jag/3L BTW INVENTOR. 0/421 0 Bfflt-ZVZE United States Patent 3,133,629 STORAGE TYRE WIRE DRAWING MACHINE Carl 0. Bruestle, Metuchen, N.J., assignor to Syncro Machine Company, Perth Amhoy, N.J., a corporation of New Jersey Filed Mar. 18, 1961i, Ser. No. 15,967 6 Claims. (Cl. 205-14) The present invention relates to a wire drawing machine of the storage type wherein provision is made for controlling the winding and unwinding of wire on the various drawing blocks in order to control the accumulation of wire thereon.

It is an object of the invention to provide a wire drawing machine having means for automatically controlling the starting and stopping of the various drawing blocks, the control being exercised through a mechanism which counts the number of Wire convolutions on the particular block and keeps that number within predetermined limits. v

It is another object of the invention to provide a machine such as that mentioned above wherein the counting mechanism is mounted separately from the drawing block and requires no support therefrom. This is to be contrasted with the counting mechanism disclosed in my copending application Serial No. 340,987, filed March 9, 1953, now Patent No. 2,996,170 of which this application is a continuation in part. In the machine of that application counting mechanism is mounted on the wire drawing blocks and requires that the shafts for the drawing blocks be hollow in order to permit the mounting of the counting mechanisms on stationary supports running through the respective block shafts.

Other objects and features of the invention will be apparent when the following description is considered in connection with the annexed drawings, in which,

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of a wire drawing machine in accordance with my invention showing particularly the arrangements of the machine base driving mechanism and wire drawing blocks;

FIGURE 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the machine of FIGURE 1 taken on the plane of the line 22 of FIGURE 1 and showing the relationship of the parts illustrated in FIGURE 1, including the relationship of the counter mechanisms which are separately mounted above the rsepective capstans or blocks with which they cooperate;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged view partially in section showing one of the drawing blocks, its gear drive and a cooperating die and die holder;

FIGURE 4 is a top plan view of one of the counting mechanisms, the view being taken on the plane of the line 4-4 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary enlarged front elevational view of a portion of the upper part of FIGURE 1 with parts thereof shown in section;

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary view of the counting mechanism gears taken in the plane of line 6-6 of FIGURE 5; and

FIGURE 7 is a schematic circuit diagram illustrating the mode in which the counting mechanisms control the starting and stopping of the various drawing blocks or capstans.

Referring now to the drawings and particularly to'FIG- URES l and 2, there is shown at 10 a base for the machine suitably supported by frame members 11, 12 and on which the various capstans 13, 14, 15 and 16 are rotatably mounted, it being understood that the machine may have many drawing stages of which the four mentioned are illustrative. Suitably mounted beneath the base 10 are supports 17, 18, 19 and 21) in which supports capstan drive shafts are rotatably mounted together with 3,133,629, Patented May 19, 1964 cooperating bevel gears and short stub shafts driven in turn by a main shaft 21 driven for example by means of a motor such as indicated at 22.

As indicated hereinabove, the machine as illustrated is provided with four drawing blocks or capstans 13, 14, 15 and 16, the wire passing through a drawing die assembly as indicated at 23 prior to its being wound on each of the capstans. From each capstan the wire passes through the cooperating counter drive mechanism such as indicated generally at 24 from which it then passes over an upper sheave 25 and a lower sheave 26 to the succeeding die.

It will be noted that the final drawing block 16 is somewhat differently shaped than are the other blocks since wire is accumulated on this block and discharged therefrom to a reeling machine or, in some instances, removed as a coil and packaged. Since the drawing blocks 13,

14- and 15 are identical in construction and since the accumulating block 16 is substantially identical, but one of them will be described.

Referring now to FIGURE 3, drawing block 14 comprises a generally cylindrical block which is mounted on a shaft 23 rotatably mounted in suitable bearings such as those indicated at 30 and 31. In the usual manner block 14 is provided with a flared skirt 32 joined to the cylindrical wall of the block by a radius 33, the wire being drawn resting on the radius, the turns above that wire serving to keep the wire taut and provide frictional engagement so that the power applied to the drawing block or capstan for rotating it draws the wire 34 through the die insert 35.

As indicated hereinabove, block 14 is fixed to shaft 2% and rotates therewith. Mounted on shaft 28 at its opposite end is a bevel gear 36 which meshes with a bevel gear 37 mounted on a stub shaft 33, which shaft is supported in suitable bearings 39 mounted by means of the members 40 on the support 13.

A conical member 41 surrounds the skirt 32 of the drawing block, the upper edge of member 41 being slightly spaced from the skirt 32 and providing a passageway through which cool air is blown over the turns of wire on the lower portion of the capstan or block 14.

Mounted on the shaft 28 above the block 14 is a sleeve 42, this sleeve being flanged at its lower edge forming an enlarged rirn 43 which, as wdl appear, forms a brake drum. Sleeve 42 is fixed to shaft 28 and rotates therewith. Mounted externally of the sleeve 42 is a second sleeve 44, this sleeve being free to rotate with respect to sleeve 42. Fixed to sleeve 44 near the lower edge thereof is a disk 45 on which is mounted a pin 46 carrying a brake band 47 which extends about the drum 43. The brake band 47 is a usual form comprising a band of resilient material provided with means for clamping the band against the drum with a desired amount of pressure. In one form the clamping means comprises a screw inserted between the ends of the band (which are bent outwardly radially of the main body of the band) and a nut which thus serves by its adjustment to increase or decrease the pressure of the band on the drum.

Carried by the disk 45 is a sheave 48 which guides the wire 34 as it moves from the drawing block 14 to the counting device 24 and thence to the upper sheave 25. The arrangement of disk 45, sheave 48, brake drum 43 and band 47 is a common one and is utilized to place a limited amount of tension on the wire during the drawing operation.

Referring now to FIGURE 1, it will be noticed that a plurality of magnetic clutches is provided, one for each drawing block, these clutches being designated 50, 51 and 52. These clutches are provided in order that the various drawing blocks may be started and stopped at will. As is usual in the art, the drawing block at the entering end of the machine is driven at a relatively low speed and the block at the finishing end at a relatively high speed, the intermediate blocks being driven at speeds intermediate those of the entering and finishing blocks. This is necessary since, as the wire is drawn, it of course elongates and this must be cared for by the speed differential. In order to assure that each block may always have a supply of wire available to it, and in order also to assure that the wire may rest on a particular block before passing to the next block in order to provide for cooling the wire between drawings, the block speeds are adjusted so that each block produces more Wire than the succeeding block can possibly require. If, however, all blocks were to operate continuously at speeds to produce the result stated above, wire would continue to accumulate on each block and the blocks would have to be of infinite size. This condition of course cannot exist and therefore clutches such as those indicated at 50-52 are provided and, when the proper amount of wire has accumulated on a particular block, that block is stopped until the wire has been removed therefrom to an extent determined by experience.

In the past this control of the drawing blocks has been exercised in many ways, one of these being by observation of the operator who through experience knows how many turns should be on a given block and operates the control clutches to keep the desired amount of wire on all blocks at all times.

Another method of exercising this control was through the determination of the height of wire on the drawing block. This, however, was ineffective or at least inaccurate since the turns might loosen and fall down upon the block to such an extent that the number of turns would vary by 100% which inaccuracy could not be considered advantageous.

A third method of exercising control is that described in my prior application above mentioned which, as is the device of this application, was accurate since it counted the number of turns on each drawing block.

In the device of that application, however, the counting mechanism was mounted immediately adjacent to and in alignment with the drawing block, the mechanism being supported by means of a supporting rod which ran through the capstan or block drive shaft. This necessitated the use of a hollow drive shaft for the capstan and had the disadvantage of weakening the drive shaft and of complicating the supports for the blocks and the drive mechanism.

Referring again to the drawings, and particularly to FIGURES 2, 4 and 5 thereof, it will be seen that the counters generally designated as 24 are mounted upon a superstructure 54 which is supported from the baseplate 10. It will also be noted that the sheaves are supported from the superstructure 54, one above each drawing block.

The counting mechanisms 24 include a U-shaped member 55 which is supported in an inverted position on a spindle 56, the member 55 being fixed to the spindle by means of the nut 57. Spindle 56 is supported in suitable bearings 59 mounted in a plate 58 supported by the superstructure 54. This spindle is hollow and is provided at its upper end with a wire guide 60. The spindle is held in position on the hearing by any suitable means, as for example the nut 61.

Fixed to the exterior of spindle 56 is a gear 62 which is preferably a mutilated gear as indicated in FIGURE 6 having a small number of teeth, in the particular instance shown, a single tooth.

Mounted adjacent to the spindle 56, and to the left thereof as shown in FIGURE 5, is a shaft 63 which is rotatably mounted in a bearing or bushing 64 suitably fixed in the plate 58. Shaft 63 carries at its lower end a gear 65 which meshes with the gear 62. A spring washer 66 surrounds the shaft 63 between the gear 65 and the lower end of the bushing 64 and its supporting boss in the plate 58.

Fixed to shaft 63 by any suitable means such as the pin 67 is a disk 68 which is in contact with a friction disk 70 loosely mounted on the shaft 63. Rotatably mounted on the shaft 63 above the disk 70 is another disk 71 which, near its periphery, is provided with a plurality of threaded holes 72 into which pins such as that shown at 73 may be inserted.

The upper end of shaft 63 carries a head thereon designated 74 between which head and the hub portion 75 of the disk 71 a compression spring 76 extends.

As is obvious, the spring 76 causes the friction disk 70 to be compressed between the disks 68 and 71 so that the disk 71 is frictionally driven from the disk 68.

Mounted on the plate 58 (FIGURE 4) is a switch 77, the operating arm 78 of which extends above the disk 71 and into position to be engaged by any pin 73 which is positioned in one of the holes 72.

Switch 77 is of the type which when operated remains operated until the operating arm 78 is moved in the opposite direction. Thus if a single pin is inserted in the disk 71 the switch will, once operated by the pin 73, remain operated through substantially an entire revolution of disk 71. By utilizing two pins the time during which the switch remains operated may be adjusted within wide limits, the adjustment steps being of course dependent upon the number of pin receiving apertures provided. The effect of operation of switch 77 is considered when the operation of the machine is described in connection with the schematic circuit diagram of FIGURE 7.

Returning now to FIGURE 5, it will be seen that the U-shaped member 55 has a pair of bars extending from one of its lower edges to the other, these bars being designated 80 (see also FIGURE 4) and that extending across the bars 80 is another pair of bars 81.

The wire being drawn extends from the sheave 48 upwardly through the space enclosed by the U-shaped member 55, the left-hand ends of the two bars 80 and the lefthand one of the two bars 81. Thus as the disk 45 rotates the wire is caused to take various positions along the surface of a cone and in so doing causes rotation of the U-shaped member 55.

As heretofore described, this rotation causes like rotation of gear 62 and therefore for each rotation of gear 62 gear 65 advances through one tooth space, it being understood, however, that gears 62 and 65 may have any desired numbers of teeth to provide ratio of turns. As shown in FIGURE 6, gear 65 has forty-four teeth and therefore forty-four wire turns will cause a complete rotation of gear 65 and of disk 71. Thus a number of turns up to forty-four may be counted, lesser numbers being provided for by the insertion of two pins at properly spaced intervals along the circumference. By virtue of the friction drive through disk 70 the disk 71 and pins 73 may be manually adjusted relative to gears 62 and 65 and thus the lower limiting number of turns may be set.

As has been pointed out heretofore, a drawing machine of the type here considered must accumulate wire in any particular stage at a rate exceeding the requirement of the succeeding stage and accumulation on any particular block is limited since the block has a definite capacity. During the period when wire is accumulating on any block, the disk 45 rotates in the direction of block rotation but at a slower rate due to the feed of the wire to the next block. As the disk 45 rotates so also does the U-shaped member 55 and the various gears of the counting mechanism above described. When the wire has reached its limit of accumulation the switch 77 is operated to deenergize the magnetic clutch associated with that particular drawing block and also the clutches associated with all preceding blocks. As a result the block stops and the rotation of the preceding block then causes wire to be removed from the block in question until the number of turns thereon has reached the lower set limit during which time the disk 45 rotates in a direction opposite to that in which the block normally rotates.

A circuit arrangement which may be utilized to eflect control of the clutches in the manner described is shown in FIGURE 7. In this figure many elements are included which have no bearing on the particular operation here described and therefore these elements are not designated.

As indicatd in FIGURE 7, the motor 22 may be a three-phase motor and power may be supplied to the control circuits by means of a transformer 82 connected across one of the three phases of the power supply. The three magnetic clutches 50, 51 and 52 are those represented on FIGURE 1, these clutches being direct current operated and being supplied with power through individual rectifiers as indicated on the drawing at R50, R51 and R52 respectively.

The circuit as shown in FIGURE 7 works as follows. When the start switch 89 is closed, the circuit to control relay 90 is closed. Relay 90 operates closing contacts 90a and 90b. Contact 90a provides a holding circuit for relay 90 so that switch 89 need be only momentarily perated. Relay 91 is the motor relay and serves to close the main contacts 96 for the motor 22. Thus by momentarily closing the start switch 89 the machine is put in full and normal operation and continues to so operate until the stop switch 95 is opened, thereby breaking the circuits for relays 90 and 91 and motor 22. Switches 93 and 94 are of a type frequently used in wire drawing machines and are arranged so that upon breakage of the wire they will open and stop the drive motor 22 due to deenergization of relay 90. A lamp 92 is provided connected in parallel with relay 90 to indicate that that relay has operated and that the motor is energized.

Jog switches designated jog 13, jog 14, jog 15 and jog 16 are provided. When jog 16 is operated relay 91 is operated and operated only solong as jog 16 remains closed. This is for momentary operation of the machine during stringing it up, adjusting, etc. Jogs 13, 14 and 15 permit jogging the main motor 22 from any drawing block station. Each of these switches, in addition to operating the main motor, operates the related rectifier R50, R51 or R52 respectively, to in turn energize the related clutch 50, 51, 52 so that each individual drawing block can be individually jogged.

Switch 77 is connected in the supply lead to the rectifier associated with magnetic clutch 52 which lead also supplies current to switch 77 and, When this switch is closed, to switch 77". It will be seen, therefore, that when switch 77 is opened the power supply to the rectifiers associated with all three clutches 50, 51 and 52 are opened and therefore blocks 13, 14 and 15 cease to be driven. It will likewise be clear that when switch 77' is opened, blocks 13 and 14 stop, but block 15 continues to rotate at which time, of course, block 15 is receiving wire from block 14 and reducing the number of turns accumulated thereon.

In a similar manner when switch 77 opens clutch th is deenergized and block 13 ceases to be driven, block 14 then taking wire from block 13 and reducing the accumulation of turns thereon. Of course when the number of turns on the stopped block of the highest stage is reduced to the predetermined lower amount, then the associated switch again closes and all of the blocks which were stopped resume rotation.

As has been indicated hereinabove, the use of a mutilated gear having one or a small number of teeth makes it possible to count a relatively large number and furthermore the use of a disk having pin receiving apertures provides for setting the upper and lower limits at spaced intervals within the limit determined by the gears. Therefore the counter mechanism provides a means for counting the turns to a high degree of accuracy, for stopping the block and all preceding blocks when a desired upper limit of accumulation of wire turns has been accomplished, and for restarting the block and all preceding blocks when a desired lower limit of wire accumulation has been attained. Additionally, the mode of supporting the counter mechanism is such that the counter actuator is above and directly in alignment with the axis of its associated drawing block, but without the necessity of weakening the drawing block rotating shaft by making that shaft hollow and supporting the counting mechanism on a supporting rod extending therethrough.

While I have described a preferred embodiment of the invention, it willbe understood that I wish to be limited not by the foregoing description, but solely by the claims granted to me.

What is claimed is:

l. A counting mechanism for a wire drawing machine of the storage type, wherein wire is accumulated on the drawing blocks of earlier stages and periodically paid ofl? to drawing dies of later stages, said counting mechanism comprising, in combination, a horizontal member fixed to the machine and extending above the drawing blocks, a rotatable member mounted on said horizontal member above and in axial alignment with the corresponding drawing block, means guiding a wire passing from the corresponding drawing block to the succeeding drawing die through said rotatable member at an off axis position, a switch, and means driven by said rotatable member when wire accumulates or is paid oil the corresponding block to actuate said switch to stop the corresponding and all preceding drawing blocks when the number of turns on the corresponding block reaches a predetermined upper limit and to restart said blocks when the number of wire turns on the corresponding block reaches a predetermined lower limit.

2. A counting mechanism for a wire drawing machine of the storage type, wherein Wire is accumulated on the drawing blocks of earlier stages and periodically paid off to drawing dies of later stages, said counting mechanism comprising, in combination, a horizontal bean-like member extending above said drawing blocks, a rotatable member mounted on said beam member above and in axial alignment with the corresponding drawing block, a disk driven by said rotatable member, a switch and means mounted on said disk to actuate said switch to stop the corresponding and all preceding drawing blocks when the number of turns on the corresponding block reaches a predetermined upper limit and to restart said blocks when the number of turns on the corresponding block reaches a predetermined lower limit.

3. A counting mechanism for a wire drawing machine of the storage type, wherein wire is accumulated on the drawing blocks of earlier stages and periodically paid ofif to drawing dies of later stages, said counting mechanism comprising, in combination, a rotatable member mounted above and in axial alignment with the corresponding drawing block and independently thereof, a disk driven by said rotatable member, a switch, apertures in the periphery of said disk, at least one pin mounted in one of said apertures, an actuating arm for said switch mounted in the path of said pin and means driving said disk from said rotatable member as wire accumulates or is paid oif the corresponding block to rotate said disk to thereby cause said pin to actuate said switch to stop the corresponding and all preceding drawing blocks when the number of turns on the corresponding block reaches a predetermined upper limit to restart said blocks when the number of turns on the corresponding block reaches a predetermined lower limit.

4. A counting mechanism in accordance with claim 3 wherein two pins are mounted in corresponding disk apertures, one of said pins actuating said switch to stop the drawing blocks and the other of said pins actuating said switch to restart said drawing blocks.

5. A counting mechanism for a wire drawing machine of the storage type, wherein wire is accumulated on the drawing blocks of earlier stages and periodically paid 01f to drawing dies of later stages, said counting mechanism comprising, in combination, a horizontal member supported above and extending longitudinally of the wire drawing machine a rotatable member mounted on said horizontal member above and in axial alignment with the corresponding drawing block, means mounted on said horizontal member guiding a wire passing from the corresponding drawing block to the succeeding drawing die through said rotatable member at an off axis position, a friction clutch, means driving said clutch from said rotatable member, a switch and means on the driven element of said friction clutch for actuating said switch to stop the corresponding and all preceding drawing blocks when the number of turns on the corresponding block reaches a predetermined upper limit and to restart said blocks when the number of wire turns on the corresponding block reaches a predetermined lower limit.

6. A counting mechanism for a wire drawing machine of the storage type, wherein wire is accumulated on the drawing blocks of earlier stages and periodically paid oif to drawing dies of later stages, said counting mechanism comprising, in combination, a rotatable member mounted above and in axial alignment with the corresponding drawing block and independently thereof, means guiding a wire passing from the corresponding drawing block to the succeeding drawing die through said rotatable member at an off axis position, a friction clutch comprising a driving disk, a driven disk, a friction washer between said disks and resilient means for pressing said disks against said washer, a plurality of apertures adjacent the periphery of said driven disk, a pair of pins positionable in selected ones of said apertures, a switch having an actuating arm extending into the path of said pins, and means driving said clutch from said rotatable member, the spacing of said pins about the periphery of said driven disk determining the number of turns of wire to be accumulated on said block, the position of said driven clutch element relative to said driving clutch element predetermining the limiting number of turns present on a drawing block when one of said pins engages said actuating arm whereby said switch is actuated to stop the corresponding drawing block and all preceding blocks when the number of turns on the corresponding block reaches a predetermined upper limit and to restart said blocks when the number of turns of wire in the coresponding block reaches a predetermined lower limit.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,029,206 Williams Jan. 28, 1936 2,040,026 Spaunburg May 5, 1936 2,370,481 Morgan Feb. 27, 1945 2,506,106 Rendel May 2, 1950 2,996,170 Bruestle Aug. 15, 1961 FOREIGN PATENTS 753,145 Great Britain July 18, 1956 

1. A COUNTING MECHANISM FOR A WIRE DRAWING MACHINE OF THE STORAGE TYPE, WHEREIN WIRE IS ACCUMULATED ON THE DRAWING BLOCKS OF EARLIER STAGES AND PERIODICALLY PAID OFF TO DRAWING DIES OF LATER STAGES, SAID COUNTING MECHANISM COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION, A HORIZONTAL MEMBER FIXED TO THE MACHINE AND EXTENDING ABOVE THE DRAWING BLOCKS, A ROTATABLE MEMBER MOUNTED ON SAID HORIZONTAL MEMBER ABOVE AND IN AXIAL ALIGNMENT WITH THE CORRESPONDING DRAWING BLOCK, MEANS GUIDING A WIRE PASSING FROM THE CORRESPONDING DRAWING BLOCK TO THE SUCCEEDING DRAWING DIE THROUGH SAID ROTATABLE MEMBER AT AN OFF AXIS POSITION, A SWITCH, AND MEANS DRIVEN BY SAID ROTATABLE MEMBER WHEN WIRE ACCUMULATES OR IS PAID OFF THE CORRESPONDING BLOCK TO ACTUATE SAID SWITCH TO STOP THE CORRESPONDING AND ALL PRECEDING DRAWING BLOCKS WHEN THE NUMBER OF TURNS ON THE CORRESPONDING BLOCK REACHES A PREDETERMINED UPPER LIMIT AND TO RESTART SAID BLOCKS WHEN THE NUMBER OF WIRE TURNS ON THE CORRESPONDING BLOCK REACHES A PREDETERMINED LOWER LIMIT. 